|
|
KPMG
AG
|
|
|
|
|
Legal
|
|
|
|
|
Badenerstrasse
172
|
P.O.
Box
|
Telephone
+41 44 249 23 18
|
|
|
CH-8004
Zurich
|
CH-8026
Zurich
|
Fax
+41 44 249 22 36
|
|
|
|
|
Internet
www.kpmglegal.ch
|
|
Garmin
Ltd.
|
Contact
|
Jörg
Kilchmann
|
|
Vorstadt
40/42
|
Phone
|
+41
44 249 45 10
|
|
8200
Schaffhausen
|
e-mail
|
jkilchmann@kpmg.com
|
|
|
Our
reference
|
Kj/Sig
|
Zurich,
June 28, 2010
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
We have
acted and are acting as Swiss counsel to Garmin Ltd., a company organized under
the laws of Switzerland (the “Company”), in connection with the Post-Effective
Amendment No. 1 (“Post-Effective Amendment”) to the Registration Statement on
Form S-8 (Registration No. 333-125717) to be filed with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on the date hereof under the
Securities Act of 1933 (“Act”) with respect to the registered shares, par value
CHF 10.00 per share of the Company (the “Registered Shares”) that may be
delivered pursuant to the Garmin Ltd. Amended and Restated 2005 Equity Incentive
Plan (the "Plan") assumed by the Company in connection with a change of the
place of incorporation of the publicly traded parent company of the Garmin group
of companies from the Cayman Islands to Switzerland. As such counsel,
we have been requested to give our opinion as to certain legal matters under
Swiss law.
In acting
as such counsel, we have examined:
(a) the
Post-Effective Amendment to the Registration Statement to be filed by the
Company with the SEC;
(b) the
Scheme of Arrangement between Garmin Ltd., a Cayman Islands company ("Garmin
Cayman"), the Company, and the Scheme Shareholders (as such term is defined in
the Scheme of Arrangement);
(c) the
Transaction Agreement between the Company and Garmin Cayman, dated May 21,
2010;
(d) the
court order of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands of June 4, 2010 sanctioning
the Scheme of Arrangement;
(e) a
copy of the current version of the articles of association and organizational
regulations of the Company;
(f)
a copy of the board resolutions adopted by the Board of
Directors of the Company on May 27, 2010, regarding the approval of the
Transaction Agreement, which was concluded between Garmin Cayman and the Company
concerning the Redomestication;
(g) a
copy of the resolutions of the general meeting of the shareholders of the
Company and of the board resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of the
Company on June 27, 2010 regarding the authorization of conditional capital for
the issuance of Registered Shares pursuant to the Plan; and
(h)
an opinion back-up certificate dated June 28, 2010 and
signed by Andrew R. Etkind, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the
Company.
Except as
stated above, we have not, for the purposes of this opinion, examined any other
contract, instrument or other document affecting or relating to the above
mentioned documents.
For the
purpose of giving this opinion we have caused to be made in the Commercial
Register of the Canton of Schaffhausen on June 28, 2010 a company search for any
pending corporate actions with respect to the Company, to the exclusion of any
other searches or inquiries.
In giving
this opinion, we have assumed:
(a) the
genuineness of all signatures;
(b) the
authenticity and completeness of all documents submitted to us as
originals;
(c) the
conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as certified
copies or photocopies and the authenticity and completeness of the original
documents where certified copies or photocopies have been
submitted;
(d) the
conformity to original documents and the completeness of all documents received
by us by facsimile transmission and the authenticity of the originals of such
documents;
(e) the
due authority of the parties authenticating such documents;
(f)
the legal capacity of all natural persons;
(g) that
all corporate actions required to be taken for the authorization and issue of
the Registered Shares have been validly and sufficiently taken by the board of
directors or the shareholders of the Company, and that such corporate actions
have not been amended, cancelled or revoked;
(h) that
no laws other than those of Switzerland would affect any of the conclusions
stated in this opinion; and
(i)
that all certificates and other documents which we have
examined or on which we have expressed reliance remain accurate, in force and
unrevoked, and that no additional matters would have been disclosed by a company
search at the Commercial Register of the Canton of Schaffhausen if carried out
since the carrying out of the searches referred to above.
In
rendering our opinion, we have relied, to the extent we deem necessary and
proper, on warranties and representations as to certain factual matters
contained in the above mentioned documents. We have no actual
knowledge of any material inaccuracies in any of the facts stated in such
documents.
Based on
the foregoing, and subject to the limitations and qualifications made herein, we
are of the following opinion:
(a) The
Company is a corporation duly incorporated and validly existing under the laws
of Switzerland with all requisite corporate power and authority to enter into,
to perform and to conduct its business as described in its articles of
association.
(b) The
Company's share capital registered in the Commercial Register of the Canton of
Schaffhausen amounts to CHF [2,106,700,000] divided into [210,670,000]
registered shares. The registered shares have been validly issued and
fully paid and are non-assessable (“keine
Nachschusspflicht”).
(c) The
Registered Shares that may be issued from the Company's conditional share
capital, if and when such Registered Shares are issued pursuant to the Plan, and
after the issue price which shall be at least equal to the nominal amount for
such Registered Shares has been paid-up in cash, will be validly issued, fully
paid and non-assessable (“keine
Nachschusspflicht”).
This
opinion is subject to the following qualifications:
(a) A
company search is not capable of revealing whether a winding-up petition has
been presented; a notice of a winding-up order or of the appointment of a
receiver may not be filed immediately at the Commercial Register; in addition,
there may be administrative delays at the Commercial Register after submission
of notices for filing.
(b) The
opinions expressed in the present letter are only made at the date thereof and
cannot be relied upon for events, changes in law or new enactments of law which
occur subsequent to the issuance of this letter. We undertake no
obligation to update such opinion in connection with events occurring or coming
to our attention after the date hereof.
(c) Except
as explicitly stated herein, we express no opinion in relation to the factual
nature of any undertaking, representation or warranty contained in any of the
documents reviewed, nor upon the commercial terms of the transactions
contemplated thereby.
(d) In
rendering the foregoing opinion we are opining on the matters hereinafter
referred to only insofar as they are governed by the laws of Switzerland as
currently in effect. We have made no investigation of and express no
opinion in relation to the laws of any jurisdiction other than
Switzerland.
In this
opinion, Swiss legal concepts are expressed in English terms and not in their
original German, French or Italian terms. The concepts concerned may
not be identical to the concepts described by the same English terms as they
exist under the laws of other jurisdictions. This opinion may,
therefore, only be relied upon under the express condition that any issues of
interpretation or liability arising thereunder will be governed by Swiss law and
be brought before a Swiss court.
We hereby
consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Post-Effective
Amendment. In giving this consent, we do not hereby admit that we come within
the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or
the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder or Item 509 of
Regulation S-K.
This
opinion is issued solely for the purposes of the filing of the Post-Effective
Amendment and the issuance of the Registered Shares by the Company as described
in the Post-Effective Amendment and is not to be relied upon in respect of any
other matter.
Yours
faithfully
KPMG
AG
|
Jörg
Kilchmann
|
Denise
Brügger
|
|
Attorney-at-Law
|
Attorney-at-Law
|